Christine de Changey (Love Never Dies)
jjj Storyline Act I After the events of Phantom of the Opera, Christine married Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny and gave birth to a son Gustave. Despite their initial happiness things gradually began to go wrong for the couple; Christine's career never received the level of praise that she earned at The Opera Populaire forcing her to leave the stage and Raoul's increasing gambling addiction dwindled his inherited wealth and drove him to heavy drinking. As their marriage become increasingly unhappy Christine found solace in her son whom seemed to have inherited her musical talents. in 1905, the de Chagnys received a lucrative offer for Christine to sing at Phantasma: Coney Island's 'City of Wonders'. Christine is hesitant but the increasing financial difficulties forces her and her family to make the journey to America. The de Chagnys arrive in New York to be greeted by a crowd of journalists ("Christine Disembarks"). While graciously answering their questions, Christine is overwhelmed and looks to Raoul to make their way through the jostling crowd. Waiting for them is a strange carriage manned by the Sideshow Freaks and sent by the mysterious owner Mr Y. When they arrive in their suite, Raoul is outraged by the gimmicky and shoddy hospitably they have so far received from Mr Y. Christine tries to console Raoul and implores him not to drink to which Raoul ignores Christine's pleas, snaps at Gustave when the boy asks his father to play with him before leaving Christine to comfort the distraught child ("What a Dreadful Town!"). Christine sings to Gustave to help him understand his father's behavior and for him to "look with your heart" before sending the child to bed ("Look With Your Heart). Christine's unease about singing at Phantasma is realized when her worst suspicion is confirmed: There was no Mr Y and that The Phantom was the one to request that she sing. This is confirmed when he comes to her suite and faces Christine's horror and anger at his deception. The Phantom reminds Christine of a night that they spent together some time between The Phantom's disappearance and her marriage to Raoul. Christine had went looking for the Phantom and found him hiding under the cover of darkness and during this encounter they copulated. Afterwards The Phantom was terrified that Christine may feel revulsion seeing him unmasked and might have extreme regret over having intercourse with him. He could not bare the inevitable rejection and so left unaware that Christine truly loved him and would have stayed with him. She at last confesses her love for the Phantom but tells him that, after all this time, they can never be together ("Beneath A Moonless Sky / Once Upon Another Time"). Gustave wakes up screaming and as he rushes to his mother for comfort he meets the Phantom for the first time. The Phantom, who still wants Christine for his own, sees an exploitable weakness by using Gustave to manipulate Christine as he ominously implies he could injury the boy and sees Christine's horrified reaction. The Phantom promises to show Gustave more of Phantasma the next day, as his parents will be at rehearsals all day, and sees the boy's delight and Christine's reluctance to refuse him ("Mother Please, I'm Scared!"). The Next day rehearsals begin for Christine's debut. When Christine arrives she sees her old friend Meg Giry and they embrace. Meg is bemused but is initially delighted to see Christine until she discovers that Christine is to sing ("Dear Old Friend"). For the last ten years, Meg has been a vaudevillian and Burlesque star at Phantasma but has been dreaming that one day The Phantom will recognize some talent in her and make her into a great star like Christine was. Christine's arrival makes it painfully obvious that The Phantom doesn't hold Meg in the same regard as Christine and Christine's presence is a threat to further Meg's career. As Christine and Meg catch up, Madame Giry and Raoul argue about Christine's contract while Madame Giry goads Raoul about Mr Y's identity and it being a possible reason why Christine wanted to come. By the end of the rehearsal the conflicts have been established: The Girys' positions are threatened by Christine's arrival and Raoul mistrusts Christine. After the rehearsal, Christine goes to fetch Gustave from the Phantom's work room only to find the child traumatized by the sight of the Phantom's face. When the Phantom presses her about Gustave, Christine confesses to the Phantom that Gustave is his son ("The Phantom Confronts Christine"). The Phantom makes a pact that he will give Gustave everything in his possession and will provide for the boy and in return Christine promises to sing the Phantom's music again. Unbeknownst to them, Madame Giry has overheard this exchange and curses The Phantom for his ingratitude for all that she and Meg have done for him. Act II At the beginning of Act II, Raoul sits in a bar and questions why Christine loves him. Despite her love for the Phantom, it's clear that Christine has also loved and continues to love Raoul despite his failures as a husband and a father ("Why Does She Love Me?"). Meg arrives and tries unsuccessfully to convince Raoul to take his family away from Coney Island. While at the bar, The Phantom confronts Raoul and makes a bet with him: if Christine sings Raoul must leave alone; if she doesn't then all their debts will be wiped away. He also cruelly makes Raoul question his paternity of Gustave ("Devil Take The Hindmost"). The night of Christine's performance arrives and despite her nervousness she begins dressing for the performance. Raoul comes backstage and asks Christine to reconsider her decision to sing, and asks her to leave at once if she loves him ("Before the Performance"). As Raoul leaves, the Phantom enters and tells Christine that Raoul knows his love is not enough and that she must sing for him once more. Alone in her dressing room, Christine recalls the Paris Opera House where she had to make the difficult decision between Raoul and the Phantom once before and if she made the right choice. As this is going on Meg Giry is heartbroken that The Phantom did not watch her preform; instead he concerned himself with Christine. Meg watches on despondently as Raoul, The Phantom and Madame Giry nervously await Christine's decision. Christine emerges on stage and triumphantly sings "Love Never Dies. After her performance, an overwhelmed Christine embraces The Phantom. After years where her singing has been soulless she at last feels alive when reunited with her Angel of Music. Her elation is only marred by a rose and note from Raoul saying that the two young people who met at the Opera where now gone and that he is leaving her never to return. Christine suddenly releases that Gustave is missing and fears that Raoul has taken the boy. Christine and the Phantom desperately search backstage for Gustave before The Sideshow performers notify them that Meg Giry has also disappeared. The Phantom and Christine confront Madame Giry before they go to the pier to rescue Gustave. At the end of the pier, Meg drags the boy towards the ledge and soothingly comforts him despite intending to drown both herself and the boy. She is interrupted by the arrival of The Phantom, Christine and Madame Giry whom try to reason with her to free Gustave. Distraught Meg pulls out a gun and holds it to her temple; all the while confessing that she has prostituted herself to finance Phantasma in the hopes that The Phantom would one day make her as great a performer as he did with Christine. The Phantom tries to console Meg but mistakenly reminds her of her inadequacy compared to Christine. Meg loses her temper at this remark and as the Phantom grapples with her, Meg accidentally fires the gun at Christine; fatally wounding her. The Phantom drops to his knees and holds Christine in his arms as Meg watches, horrified by what she has done. Christine reveals to Gustave that the Phantom is his father. Her final words tell the Phantom that her love for him will never die. They have one final kiss, and she dies in his arms with her beloved son by her side. The Phantom comforts Gustave who doesn't shy away as unmasks him. Like his mother taught him, Gustave "looks with his heart" at his real father. Portrayal Relationships Actresses that have played the role jj Trivia * Gustave is named after his grandfather Gustave''' 'Daaé; Christine's father whom she was exceedingly close to. * It's assumed that Gustave's musical talent comes from The Phantom. However Both Christine and her father were also musicians. * Christine's death has similarities to Kim's death in the musical ''Miss Saigon. Both women are abandoned by their husbands (Raoul and Chris), both leave behind sons and both have a prolonged death by gunshot wound as they die in their love's arms after reuniting after a number of years. Both the original Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon were produced by Cameron Mackintosh. * In Love Never dies, Christine dies in 1905. However in the 2004 adaptation of Phantom of the Opera, the last scene features Christine's headstone with her death date as birth year as 1854 and her death in 1917. She's supposed to be about 16 in phantom so she would have to be born in or around 1879 to fit Love Never Dies timeline. And definitely not 1854 as she would be in her 40s by the events of Phantom and in her 50s by the events of Love Never Dies. Category:Christines Category:Female characters Category:Musicals Category:Deceased characters Category:Love Never Dies characters Category:Andrew lloyd webber's phantom of the opera